Duplex novelty case



Jan. 6, 1931. a. B. DEITEL 1,788,189

DUPLEX NOVELTY GAS E Filed Dec. 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.Be/y'a/nm .Z 261% By MW ATTORNEY Jan. 6, 1931. B. B. DEITEL DUPLEXNOVELTY CASE Filed Dec. 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I My. 6

, I INVENTOR AITORNEY BY mw Patented Jan.'6, 1931 BENJAMIN B. DEI'IEL,BBOOKLYN, NEW YURI! wa NOVELTY casn Application filed iDemamberfl,1929.Serial No. 411,112.

My invention relates to containers arranged to have separatecompartments for different articles and, more particul-arly,,to duplexor combination vanity and cigai ette cases.

' An essentialfeature of the invention is the novel locking device. Thecontainer has an intermediate closure rcleasably; locked thereto. Thehinged vcover or lid of the container is'locked to this intern'iediateclosure so tirin- -ly that the'lock can only-be releasedby exerting anappreciable pulling force on the lid. Ordinarily, such a firm lockbetween lidand the intermediate closure would'cause this closure also"to be pulled open whenlhe lid is pulled open. It'is one of the objectsof the present invention to hold the intermediate closure securelylocked to the container when the lid is being pulled open.

Other objects of theinvention are: to simplify the construction of suchduplex containers, to reduce the number of parts necessary for thesuccessful operation-of the device, and to combine its elements'insuch-a manner as to secure both-sturdiness and-attractive appearance.

These and further objects of the invention will become apparent from thedetailed description which follows. 7 ,In the drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a combination vanity and cigarette caseembodying myinvention;.Figure 2 is a plan View of the same device, with the lidopen, to disclose the vanity compartment;

v Figure 3 is a similar View of the samerdevice, but with theintermediateclosure open, to show the cigarettecompartment; Figure 4; isa cross sectiontakeir along-theline %4 of Figure 1; 'Figureffi 'i anenlarged detail of tlielQcking device Figu're'ti is a perspective-viewof ain'odification' of the case shown in Figure 1;and Figure-Tie a crosssection a book, the wallsl havinga multiplicity of ,parallelridgestosimulate the edges of the [leaves of ai book, onthe threevisiblesides,

viz the front and tlietwoends ofthe tbook.

- Thetop, 2, or whatis referred to in the claims as the ,lid, comprisesafiat open frame '5, reinforced with a cover plate 7, he frame 5 havingbezels '6 within which is held a mirror 22. The bottom, 3, also, isprovided with a .55 reinforcing plate, 3, and is secured to the walls 1by'means of tonguesfi, cut from the metalfof thebottom plate 3, andriveted tothe walls 1 by small rivets 3. A cover, preferably ofleather,8, extends over the lid,, 2, bottom, 3,a d theback wall portion of 1,

to simulate the binding of-a book. This construction follows, to someextent, the one disclosed in -my prior Patents, Nos. 1,694,702,1,715,820 and '1,T15,821,1the only changebeing in the addition ofcthebottom plateB, necessitated by the feature Of'tllfi; ridges on thewalls 1. In the formerpatents,the lower frame was stamped outwithoutwardly pro- ,jecting flanges to form a basis for the bookhang-over and the reinforcing plate 3 was sufiicient'to build upthebottom. It is not, however, practicalto make the ridges on the walls ofsuch a'frame. Accordingly, in the presentcase, the walls 1 arefOZflll'Qtl bymerely' bending a strip of sheet metal. the ends 2 ofwhich are'held together onthe back of the book frame, as by means of thejoint 21, and are secured to the bottom, as explained above, by means ofthe tongues 3". .80 The strip of sheet metal thus used for the walls111$ ridged before applied to the present construction. The cover 8 andthe reinforcing plates 7 and 3 are secured to the ,open frame '5 and tothe bottom 3, respec- .8

tively, in the same manner asthis has been shown in the above mentionedprior patents, namely, by means of channel members 9, for the Etop,and'9, for; the bottom. The frame 5 is hingedsto the back wallportion of1 in Y I the usual manner, as shown at 4. The bottomyplat'e-ii is shownas hinged to the same wall at Al, Itshould be understood,however,-thatithis construction has been adopted, merely -a matter ofconvenience. The

hinge hasno function, the bottom being permanently securedto the walls1.

. Ashallow tray 10, referred to in the claims as a vanity tray, becauseof the rouge and powder puffs,'12 and 12, respectively,

' separated by the holding bar 11, arranged in raised jointly with thelid to which it is the tray in the same manner as shown in the abovereferred to patents, is mounted to swing on the same hinge 4 on whichthe lid 2 is hinged. To close the duplex container, a spring. lock isprovided between the lid 2 and the tray 10, comprising a stiff, curvedtongue 13 on the lid 2, cut from the metal of frame 5, adapted to enterthe hole 13 in the front end of the tray 10, thus engaging the tray. Thespring lock is made rather stifi so that the lid 2 can not be separatedfrom the tray 10 except by exerting an appreciable pulling effort. Thepull is effected by taking hold of the projecting edge 9 with one hand,and the projecting edge 9 with the other, and pulling the two edgesapart. Naturally, unless there is some pro ision to hold the tray 10 inplace, such pulling will pry the tray loose and cause it to be raisedjointly with the lid 2. In order to hold the tray 10 down, when the lid2 is raised, I provide a downwardly projecting extension 14 on the frontend of the tray 10, this extension being formed at its extremity into ahook 14: On the inner side of the front portion of the wall, a springleaf 1?: is secured in the following manner. The leaf is split along theline '16, the lower portion 15 'is secured to the wall 1 by a tongue 17(cut from the metal of the plate 3) and the leaf, wall and tongue areriveted together at 18. The upper portion 15 of the spring leaf 15 isformed into a hook 14 adapted to engage the hook 1 1 of the trayextension 14 when the tray is down and forms an intermediate closure forthe container.- N ow, no effort at pull on the lid 2, short of onecalculated to demolish the entire structure, will cause the lock of thetray 10 to the container walll to be loosened, the engagement of thehooks 14 and'let reventin the raisin of the tra E) -i 10. In thismanner, when the lid 2 is pulled open .the container will disclose onlythe vanity tray with its rouge and powder puffs or pads.

In order to release the lock between the container wall 1 and the tray10, a lug 19 is attached to the movable portion 15 of the leaf 15, as bymeans of the headQO, and is passed through an opening in the frontportion of the wall 1, the projecting end of the lug 19 functioning as athumb piece. The

. release is effected by simply pressing the lug 19 inward. This,however, will not in itself raise the tray 10. The tray is fiushwith theupper edge of the container wall 1 and presents no means for gettinghold'of the tray to raise it. unless by inserting a knife blade or otherflat tool *betweenthe edges of the tray and of the container. Inpractice, the tray 10 is raised by closing the container, re leasing thelock between the tray 10 and the container wall 1, i. e; pressing thelug 19inward, and then raising the lid 2. There now being nothing tohold the tray down,.it will be locked, revealing the lower portion ofthe container which, in the illustration, is filled with cigarettes 23.V

It will be understood that the novel locking device of this duplexcontainer has two dis tinct features, namely, (1) the lid 2 is locked tothe container Wall through the intermediary of-the tray 10 and isoperative, as between the lid 2 and the tray 10, when the lock betweenthe tray 10 and the container wall 1 is released,;and (2) the lockbetween the lid 2 and the container wall 1 (through the interinediary ofthe tray. 10) is releasable only when the lock between the tray 10 andthe container wall 1 is in operation.

The locking device herein shown also serves as a stop for the tray 10,the extension 14 of the tray abuttting the lug-'19 on its downwardmotion. In the drawing, a certain cle is shown between the trayextension 1% and the lug 19, which is desirable to facilitate therelease of the engaging hooks 1 1 and 147 but the extension 1% actuallydoes abut the lug 19 when the tray is closed down, slightly reboundinginto the position shown in the drawing after first touching the lug.

It will be clear from the above description of my invention that it isnot dependent upon the specific construction of the container as shown.The specific construction illustrated has been selected because it ispreferred. To show that the choice is not limited, even were one toinsist on a book form container, I have disclosed a modification inFigures 6 and 7, wherein thecovering 8, of leather or other suitablematerial, is stretched over the top, bottom and back wall of the bookform case, tucked overits edges in between the frame 5 and cover plate7, on top. and between the bottom plate 3 and cover plate 3. at thebottom. The remainder of the duplex case structure is the same asbefore. Clea rly, also, the container need not be of book form atall'and may be of any shape or configuration. Such, and many othermodifications, may be readily made by those skilledin the art Withoutaffecting the scope and the spirit of the. invention. i

I claim: r

1. In a container formed with. a wall, a bottom, and a lid'hinged tosaid wall, the combination with a tray mounted in said container toswing from said'wall, of means selectively operative to releasablysecure said lid and said tray as a unit tosaid container wall, or tosecure said tray to said container'wall and release said lid from saidtray. 1

2. In a container formed with a wall, a bottom, and a lid hinged to saidwall, the combination with a tray mounted in said container to swingfrom said wall, of a lock between said lid and said tray releasable byexerting pull on said lid, and means for holdarancei ing' said traysecurely locked to said container wall when said l-id'is being pulledopen.

3. In a containerformed-witha wall, a bottom, and a lid hinged to saidwall, the combination with a tray lmounted in said container to swingfrom said wall and adapted to forman intermediate closure for saidcontainer, of a spring lock between said lid and said tray releasable byexerting pull on said lid, means for releasably locking said tray.bottom,andla'lid hinged to the side forming when it is forming saidintermediate closure,

and means for securely holding said interme- :ztion with ajtrayhingedjto said-back wall and diary closure locked when said lid is beingpulled open.

l. In a container comprising four sides, a bottom, and a lid hinged tothe side forming the back wall of said container, the combination withatray hinged to said back wall, of means selectively operative toreleasably secure said lid and said tray as a unit to the side of saidcontainer forming its front wall, or to secure said tray to said frontwall and release said lid from said tray.

5. In a container comprising four sides, a bottom, a lid, and a hingebetween said lid and the side forming the back wall'of said container,the combination with a tray mounted in said container to'swing on saidhinge,

of a lock between said lid and said tray at the front end thereof, whichlook is releasable by exerting pull on said lid, and means for holdingsaid tray securely locked to the side of said container forming itsfront wall when said lid is being pulled open. 3

6. Ina container formed with a wall, a bottom, and a lid hinged to saidwall, the combination with a tray mounted in tainer to swing from saidwall and adapted to form an intermediate closure for said container, ofa lock between said lid and said tray releasable by exerting pull onsaid lid, a hook on said tray, a cooperating hook on said wall adaptedfor engagement with the hook on said tray when the latter is formingsaid intermediate closure, and means for releasing said engagement.

7. In a container formed with a wall, a bottom, and a lid hinged to saidwall, the combination with a tray mounted in said container to swingfrom said wall and adapted to form an intermediate closure a spring lockbetween said lid and said tray releasable by exerting pull" on said lid,an extension on said tray formed into a hook, a cooperating hook movablysecured to said container wall and adapted to engage the hook on saidtray extension when said tray is forming said intermediate closure, andmeans for actuating said movable hook to. release it from engagementwith the hook on said tray extension. 7

8. In a container comprising four sides, a bottom; and a lid hinged tothe side forming the back wall of said container, thecomblna tion with atray hinged to said back wall, of

.said container forming its front wall,

said confor said container, of V arspring lock-between said lid andsaidtray' at the frontend thereof releasable by-exerting pull on said lid,an extension on said tray formedinto a hook, a spring leaf secured'tothe side of said container forming its front "wall, a hook'on saidspring leaf adapted for engagement withthehook on said tray extension,and means for actuating said spring leaf to release said engagement.

9. In'ra'container comprising four sides, a.

the back wall of said container, the combinaadapted to formanintermediate closure for said container,'of a spring lock between said rlid and said tray, releasable by exerting pull a hook, aspring-leafsecured to the side of a hook on saidspring leaf adapted forengagement with the hook on said tray extension when said'tray is in theposition forming said intermediate closure, and a lug attached to saidspring leaf and outwardly projecting through said front wall. o

10 ;A duplex vanity case comprising four sides a bottom, a lid, ahingebetween-said lid and'the side forming'the back wall of said case, avanity-tray "mounted in said case to 'swmgo'n said hinge and adapted toform an intermediate closure for said case sufiiciently spaced from:said bottom to constitute, with the four sidesfof the said case, aseparate container, a spring lock between said lid and the front end iof, said'tr'ay releasable by exerting pull on said lid, a downwardlyprojecting extension on the front end of said tray formedrintoa hook,-asplit spring leaf one portion whereof is-secured to the side of saidcase forming its f front wall, a liOOK on the other-portion ofsaidspringleaf adapted for engagement with the hook on said tray extensionwhen said tray is in the position forming said intermediateclosure, anda lug attached. to the hooked portion ofsaid spring leaf and projectingoutwardly through said front wall, said lug being so disposed;relatively to said tray extension to constitute adownward'stop for saidtray.

11-. A book form container comprisingfour "walls'pof which the front andthe two end wallsare provided with a multiplicity of parallel ridges tosimulate the edges of theleaves said lid and the back wall of saidcontainer, a cover extending over said'lid a'ndbottom, andover saidbackwa l, to simulate the binding of a book, a tray mounted in said container to swing on said hinge, a spring lock between saidlid and saidtray at the front end-thereof, releasable by exertingpull on said lid,wmeans for relea sably locking said tray to'the front {wall of saidcontainer, and

r a a 1 of a book, a-bottom, a lid, a hinge between means for holdingsaid tray securely locked when said lid is being pulled open.

12. A book form duplex vanitycase comprising four walls, the front andthe two end walls being provided with a multiplicity of to said frontwall and release said lid from said tray, Y

13. A book form duplex vanity case comprising four walls, of which thefront and the seeure said tray to said front wall and release said flatopen framefrom said tray.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature. o BENJAMIN B. DEITEL.

two end walls are provided with a multiplicity of parallel ridges tosimulate the edges of the leaves of a book, a bottom, a lid, a hingebetween said lid and the 'back- WfLllOf said cate, a covering extendingover said bottom, lid and back wall to simulate the binding of a book, avanity tray mounted in said case to swing on said hinge, a spring lockbetween said lid and said vanity tray at the front end thereofreleasable by exerting pullon said lid, said tray being adapted to forman intermediate closure for said case su'fiiciently spaced from saidbottom to constitute, to-

' gether with the four walls of said case, a sepaprojecting eX- ratecontainer, a downwardly tension on the front end of sai tray'formed intoa hook, a spring leaf secured to the front wall of said case, a hook onsaid spring leaf adapted for engagement with the hook on said trayextension when said tray forms said intermediate closure, and a lugattached to said spring leaf and outwardly pro ect1ng through an openingin said front wall, said tray extension abutting-said-lug when saidintermediate closure is effected.

14. A book form duplex vanity comprising four walls, the front and thetwo end walls being provided with a multiplicity of parallel ridges tosimulate the edges of the leaves of a book, a flat openframe hinged tothe back wall of said case,'a cover plate on a said open frame, bezelson said frame to hold a mirror against said cover plate, a bottomsecured to said four walls and extending be yond them on the front andonthe two ends, a cover plate under said bottom, a covering extendingover said top and bottom cover plates 1 i and over said back wallsimulating the binding of a book, top and bottom channel membersclasplng together, one, the edges of said covering, top cover plate andflat open frame, and the other, the edges of said covering and of saidbottom cover plate, along said front and end walls, a vanity tray hingedto said back wall, and means selectively operative to releasably securesaid fiat open frame and said tray as a unit to said front wall, or to

